PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – If the Pirates were going to go on a run that would bring them back into the playoff picture, it needed to begin Saturday night. A loss to New York that evening would have meant a series loss to one of baseball’s worst squads, something the Pirates simply couldn’t afford at this point in the year.
From the first pitch, it felt like the Bucs were well aware of that fact. Coming off a disheartening defeat to the Mets the night before, Pittsburgh’s offense overwhelmed New York from start to finish in a 9-0 blowout in front of a packed house. The result marked the Bucs’ largest margin of victory since their 14-5 stomping of the Milwaukee Brewers back on July 12th.
“For the offense to continue to add on as we went was really big. It gave us a huge cushion. Starting to stack the at-bats, we see what can happen when we do that,” Pirates Manager Don Kelly said postgame.
Chandler’s strong performance
If the Bucs were gonna escape their recent slide, they were going to need a gem from their starter. They got that and more from Bubba Chandler Saturday.
One of Pittsburgh’s main issues recently has been consistently poor starts from its rotation. That included Chandler, who finished July with a 4.26 ERA and gave up 20 hits across four starts (19 innings). After collecting his first victory in over a month in Milwaukee on August 3rd, Chandler built on that with an even more dominant performance against the Mets.
“This one tops it,” Kelly said. “As far as throwing strikes and being efficient, his stuff was really good. It just seemed like he got ahead of a lot of guys.”
In a game that the Pirates especially needed Chandler to at his best, he delivered. He didn’t just slow down the Mets’ lineup. He gave it no hope of scoring a run from the moment he stepped on the mound.
Stymied by Chandler’s arsenal of pitches, New York didn’t even manage to place a single runner in scoring position with him on the bump. Posting a final line of 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB and 5 K through 6.0 innings, it’s hard to argue that the performance wasn’t Chandler’s best of the campaign so far.
“(Luke) Weaver said something in our pitcher’s meeting a couple days ago that kind of hit home for me. I’m not going to say it, but I just want to do good for the guys,” Chandler said.
Pirates’ offense comes alive
Hindered by recent injuries to key players, the Pirates’ offense entered Saturday’s contest in something of a slump for its standards. Pittsburgh hadn’t scored more than four runs in each of its first seven games to open August, a frustrating streak considering it plated seven-plus runs in 10 games last month.
But even with usual contributors like Oneil Cruz, Ryan O’Hearn and Endy Rodríguez sidelined, the Pirates’ bats had a field day against New York.
Forcing the Mets to pull starting arm Robert Slack after just a few innings, the Bucs lit him up to the tune of 9 hits, eight earned runs and five walks. Right-hander Xzavion Curry stepped in for the next few frames and momentarily stopped the bleeding, but once position player Luis Torrens took over toward the end of the game, the Bucs picked up right where they left off.
A Brandon Lowe homer in the seventh grew Pittsburgh’s lead to 9-0, which proved to be the final.
“We’re playing a kid’s game. Something (Kelly) taught me back in April or May was that everything’s just one pitch. Season’s not gonna make or break on one pitch, so we just keep going and try to have fun out there,” Mangum said.
Oneil Cruz Update
Nearing the end of his long road to recovery, Oneil Cruz made his first rehab start Friday with Triple-A Indianapolis at center field against the Iowa Cubs. He failed to record a hit on three plate appearances, as he walked twice and popped out during a contest that saw his team plate just three runs compared to Iowa’s nine. Cruz was replaced in the lineup by Joshua Palacios to open the top of the eighth.
Cruz did not return to the starting lineup Saturday night for the Indians and never appeared in the game.
Up Next
The Bucs will close out their three-game set against the Mets tomorrow at PNC Park. RHP Jared Jones (2-3, 4.02 ERA) will make his 13th start of the campaign for the Pirates. He’ll hope to bounce back after allowing 8 hits and 3 earned runs across 4.0 innings last time out against the Brewers. Opposite of him will be New York’s LHP Sean Manaea (3-5, 4.33 ERA). Dan Zangrilli has the North Shore Tavern Leadoff Show at noon with first pitch set for 1:35pm on 93.7 The Fan.
